Adult schpeil

I wish this was funnier, but I do think that it will be useful when I'm working with postgraduate students tomorrow. This is my introductory speech for 8-12 adult participants in team-building activities on property. Once again, a few lines credited to Jeffery Gosnell (Challenge Course Manager, Eagle Crest Adventures at Lake Williamson Christian Center) from a posting on the Ropes listserv.

Today, we will not be hugging, holding hands, or singing “kumbaya.” We are not going to be getting in touch with anyone's inner child, we don't want to see your feminine side (unless you're dying to show it to us), and my personal policy on trust falls is only at participant request.

What we are going to be doing is different physical and mental challenges that will aid you in developing your communication skills, learning how you can adapt to problems, and help build a sense of trust and safety within the members of this group. Your program wants you to leave with new information and skills that you can take back with you.

It is my job to provide opportunities for learning, which comes out of the process of working on tasks and figuring out what went well, what didn't, and what could be improved next time.

As your facilitator, I promise that I will always give you any new information you need to keep yourselves and each other safe. I promise I will never bring you to a task that is impossible to do. And I promise that I will never lie to you.

There are lots of activities on property, and every small groups’ journey to reach the goals of this program are going to be different. Understand I’d like to stay focused on the present moment and task at hand. I won’t choose the next activity after we have gotten as much as we need to out of the present one, so if you ask what we are doing next, I probably don’t have a good answer yet.

You have complete control on how involved you are in any given task, how you wish to be challenged is your choice. If you feel uncomfortable or unwilling to participate in a challenge as I have presented it, please let me know, and I will gladly adapt the challenge to address those concerns or even move on to something different. Likewise, if you have a group or individual need that I am not meeting, please let me know so that I have the opportunity to do something about it.